Big Concerts is delighted to announce that Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Tems will be bringing her soulful voice and emotive lyrics to Johannesburg on the 20th March 2025. Known for her unique blend of Afrobeat, R&B, and neo-soul, Tems has captivated audiences worldwide, and her Johannesburg concert is set to be an unforgettable live experience.

Tems will perform at The Dome, Nasrec, Johannesburg, which opens in January 2025. This highly anticipated concert promises to showcase Tems signature sound and powerful stage presence, making it a must-see event for fans. Powered by Y. Another Big Concerts Experience.

The Discovery Bank pre-sale begins at 09h00 on Wednesday, 27 November and runs until 08h59 on Friday 29 November. Tickets from www.ticketmaster.co.za or www.bigconcerts.co.za.

Tickets go on sale to the general public at 09h00 on Friday 29 November from www.ticketmaster.co.za or www.bigconcerts.co.za.

Tems Biography

“I hope when people see me, they see God, working through me,” Tems states calmly in a signature Lagosian drawl. For her, it’s the only way to explain her journey so far and the relationship she bears to the music she creates. Releasing her debut single in summer of 2018 – after quitting her digital marketing job at the top of 2018, much to the dismay of her family – the response was so electric that the 25-year-old artist and producer knew she’d got it right.

 

Her speaking voice is smooth, alto and languorous, as she explains that she had never really considered music as a career option when she was young: to begin with she was just a fan. Growing up on a diet of Aaliyah, Asa and Frank Ocean, where she just enjoyed singing for fun, it wasn’t until she was around 17  that she realised it might be her calling. “I tried to not go to school but that didn’t work out,” she chuckles. Instead, she followed through with an economics degree at MonAsh University in South Africa, admitting casually “I actually have two degrees.”

However, after a year or so in the corporate sphere, there came a point when the now-singer, born Temilade Openiyi, felt compelled to shape her own future. “I literally got a new year’s message about taking a leap or something and I just remember thinking, you have to quit your job today.” Not because she was bad at it but because it didn’t come easily – at least not like music did. “You can wake me up at literally any time of night and I can form a song,” Tems declares before recalling how just last week, at the house of one of her producers, she’d ended up recording an impromptu track to the beat made by a dripping tap in the kitchen. She asks why she would give up something that was so innate to her being?

After uploading her first track – made hastily in a studio with friends – Mr Rebel, to “one of those distro-type things”, things started falling into place: “every single thing that happened, I didn’t chase it.” People were reaching out to her, sharing her music, she began performing. Since then, she’s graced her burgeoning fanbase with a select few releases, the biggest of which, Try Me, is currently sitting at over 5 million streams. Emphasising again, “that’s why I’m so sure God knows what he’s doing with me and I’m just a tool.”

That same divine sentiment is how she describes her own sound, “…spiritual.” To her music is the simplest form of expression: “it’s like it’s coming from my soul,” she offers. There is a catharsis to how riffs seem to fall from her mouth, strewn effortlessly over beats that seamlessly merge the familiar worlds of Afrobeats, R&B and pop into something distinctly new. The deep richness to her vocal, undeniable hooks to her Afrobeats predecessors and a unique blend of her own soul and language that make her much-anticipated debut EP primed to disrupt in Nigeria and internationally.

Despite the rapid rise, Tems is pacing herself for the long haul, estimating “people have only heard about a twentieth of my sound, they haven’t heard the whole of me yet.” And when it comes to the hype, she’s trying to actively going against the grain of the industry: “Everything is a competition. Who’s the best? … There’s that pressure, especially when you’re new.” But Tems is measuredly philosophical on this, as she is with most subjects: “I’m here to spread my message. There cannot be any competition because I’m just being 100% myself.”

Ultimately, what is the message that Tems hopes to spread through her art? “Apart from the government, music is the only thing that influences people individually and simultaneously” she unpacks calmly. Alongside wanting to make tangible change for those in need – creating opportunities and resources – she concludes most importantly, her main goal: “I just want to be a source of hope.”

Fans are strongly advised against purchasing tickets from Viagogo and other secondary sites. These tickets are unlawfully resold by deceitful sellers for commercial purposes at multiple times the face value and are not legitimate tickets. Should you purchase these tickets you will be denied entry into the venue, and you will not be entitled to a refund.

All tickets will be 100% digital, mobile only tickets, and only verified Ticketmaster accounts will be eligible to purchase up to 10 tickets per Fan.

For more information, please go to www.bigconcerts.co.za.